Monday, July 3, 2017

Soul on a String

Review: Soul on a String

By Ken Korman

June 2, 2017

There are unique pleasures to be found in genre films.
Westerns, film noir, science fiction — any film that embraces a set of
familiar, easily defined parameters may fit the bill. The genres are naturally
limiting (just about any Western has to accommodate horses, outlaws and the
open frontier), but limitations are key to genre films’ appeal. The finest
examples mix the tried-and-true with the unexpected to create something comfortable
but new.

There’s another range of possibilities created by films
that blend familiar genres in unfamiliar ways. Mix two parts spaghetti Western
and one part samurai film, add splashes of magical realism and Eastern
mysticism and you’ve got the basic recipe for Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yang’s
Soul on a String.

Adapted from two novels by Tibetan author Tashi Dawa (who
also co-wrote the screenplay with Zhang), Soul on a String demonstrates the
potential gains from pushing genre films into uncharted territory. It’s far
from perfect — the film loses focus in its final act, blunting the effect of
its big finale — but those with a strong appreciation for its varied sources
may find the film difficult to resist.

Soul on a String tells the story of Taibei, a Tibetan
wanderer from a distant time who discovers a sacred stone in the mouth of a
deer and begins a quest to return the stone to its rightful home on the holy
mountain of the Buddha’s handprint. Taibei is pursued by two brothers looking
to avenge their father’s death, a pair of low-level thugs trying to secure the
gem for their crime boss, a woman named Joan who wants Taibei for her husband,
and a writer who’s following Taibei’s evolving story but may actually be from
the future.

Zhang’s strongest influence in making his Tibetan Western
is surely the work of Sergio Leone, especially his spaghetti-Western
masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West. Like that film, Soul on a String
combines a leisurely, Zen-like vibe with truly epic scale. Lengthy, often
meditative sequences are interrupted by sudden though infrequent bursts of
violence. Co-author’s Tashi’s long-held connection to Latin-style magical
realism — as seen in the work of writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez — adds
another dimension to the film, and sets it apart from even the most
artistically adventurous Westerns.

The work of cinematographer Guo Daming also ensures that
Soul on a String has an identity all its own. The vast Tibetan Plateau provides
a seemingly endless supply of breathtaking vistas. In another film, these
lavish images of the natural world might seem a mere distraction, but they
become essential in the context of a story driven by Buddhist principles that
often address man’s place in nature.

Soul on a String’s unique Chinese-Tibetan pedigree has
caused some controversy in light of China’s occupation of Tibet, and some
critics have taken the filmmakers to task for avoiding political issues
altogether. Zhang spent several months living in Tibet before starting work on
his Tibetan-language epic, and the resulting work can be taken as part of a new
wave of films — made by Tibetan filmmakers or collaborators — that seek to
bring something authentic of Tibet to the big screen. That sounds like
progress, especially for a humble genre film.

About Me

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1946 I have a BA degree in American History from Cal St. Northridge. I've been researching the American West and western films since the early 1980s and visiting filming sites in Spain and the U.S.A. Elected a member of the Spaghetti Western Hall of Fame 2010.